Indian Singer Sonu Nigam hit back at Jet Airways on Friday after they suspended five airhostesses for allowing him to sing over the carrier’s in-flight announcement system recently, reported ANI.

‘To suspend the crew for asking me to sing on the address system, when the seat belt signs were off, and no announcements were to be made, is nothing less than punishing someone for spreading happiness,’ the singer told ANI.

Adding that Indians need to lighten up, he said, ‘I’ve witnessed an elaborate fashion show, small concerts in an aircraft. I’ve also seen pilots and the crew crack jokes to loosen up passengers in other countries, which is so cool.’

He said that it’s a pity that there is no one to question such harshness, except the media and that ‘this act of lack of common sense, according to me, is the real intolerance’.

On January 4, passengers on a Jet Airways chartered plane requested Sonu Nigam, who was in the same flight, to sing for them.

The singer agreed to their request and the airhostesses too obliged. Nigam performed two songs ‘Do pal ruka’ from Yash Raj Films’ Veer Zaara and ‘Panchhi nadiya’ from Abhishek Bachchan’s Refugee much to the joy of passengers who joined in. The video of Nigam’s impromptu mid-air concert were posted by some passengers on social media and had gone viral. The aviation watchdog DGCA had taken serious note of the episode.